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Facebook parent Meta is teaming up<\/a> with Hugging Face<\/a> and European cloud infrastructure company Scaleway<\/a> to launch a new AI-focused startup program at the Station F startup megacampus<\/a> in Paris.<\/p>\n The underlying goal of the program is to promote a more \u201copen and collaborative\u201d approach to AI development across the French technology world.<\/p>\n The timing of the announcement is notable, coming amid a growing push for regulation and a marked conflict between the \u201copen\u201d and \u201cclosed\u201d AI realms.<\/p>\n Many of the major tech companies including Microsoft, Google, and ChatGPT-developer OpenAI, are arguing for more regulation and warning of the existential threat posed by AI, even though they are simultaneously developing powerful AI technologies themselves. Some of these arguments center on the risks of open source AI, and how it could be manipulated by bad actors. On the other side of the debate is the notion that these tech companies are merely scaremongering to force regulators into supporting a more \u201cclosed\u201d AI development ethos, ultimately protecting themselves from competition.<\/p>\n Meta is very much in the latter camp. Last week, the company\u2019s chief AI scientist Yann LeCun joined more than 70 other signatories in calling for more openness in AI development<\/a>, warning against too much regulatory haste.<\/p>\n \u201cHistory shows us that quickly rushing towards the wrong kind of regulation can lead to concentrations of power in ways that hurt competition and innovation,\u201d the letter noted. \u201cOpen models can inform an open debate and improve policy making. If our objectives are safety, security and accountability, then openness and transparency are essential ingredients to get us there.\u201d<\/p>\n And it\u2019s against that backdrop that Meta is teaming up with one of the biggest players in the open source AI space.<\/p>\n While Meta itself has been<\/a> open-sourcing its own generative AI models<\/a>, Hugging Face \u2014 a billion-dollar VC-backed startup in its own right<\/a> \u2014 has set out its stall as a sort of open source alternative to OpenAI<\/a>, replete with open alternatives to the likes of ChatGPT and spearheading community projects such as BigScience<\/a>.<\/p>\n So in many ways, Meta and Hugging Face\u2019s tie-up today makes a great deal of sense, given their respective stances on the whole \u201copen\u201d vs \u201cclosed\u201d AI discussion.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, open source AI is the most important topic of the decade as it is the cornerstone toward democratizing ethical AI,\u201d Hugging Face CEO\u00a0Cl\u00e9ment Delangue said in a statement.<\/p>\n From today through December 1 (2023), startups can apply<\/a> to join the new \u201cAI Startup Program\u201d at Station F, with five winners proceeding to the accelerator program that will run from January to June. The chosen startups, selected by a panel of judges from Meta, Hugging Face, and French cloud company Scaleway<\/a>, will have at least one thing in common \u2014 they will be working on projects substantively built on open foundation models, or at the very least can demonstrate a \u201cwillingness to integrate these models into their products and services,\u201d according to the announcement issued by Meta today.<\/p>\n \u201cWith the proliferation of foundation models and generative artificial intelligence models, the aim is to bring the economic and technological benefits of open, state-of-the-art models to the French ecosystem,\u201d the announcement noted.<\/p>\n It\u2019s somewhat notable that Meta has chosen to sidestep the major cloud infrastructure companies \u2014 and open-source AI naysayers \u2014 such as Microsoft and Google, instead opting to partner with a smaller, independent European player in the form of Scaleway.<\/p>\n Indeed, the winning startups will receive mentoring from researchers and engineers at Meta, gain access to Hugging Face\u2019s various platforms and tools, and compute resources from Scaleway.<\/p>\n While it would be incorrect to say that Meta has given up<\/a> on its lofty metaverse ambitions, much has changed in the past 12 months. Almost exactly a year ago, Meta teamed up with L\u2019Or\u00e9al and French business school HEC to launch a startup accelerator<\/a> at Station F focused on all-things VR\/AR\/MR. But with the ChatGPT<\/a> and generative AI hype<\/a> train gaining steam<\/a>, Meta has had to refocus its efforts<\/a> on something a little more near-term, which is where this new accelerator program enters the fray.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nOpen foundation<\/h2>\n